A trademark can be a logo, word or other design that is used as a brand or source identifier. U.S. trademark law enables you to protect a logo design, word mark or any other brand identifier from being used by another third party in connection with a similar product or service to yours. By registering your mark at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), you can secure federal trademark rights in a logo or other source identifier and protect your mark in connection with your particular offering. You can enforce your mark against other third parties who seek to register or use a similar design or logo to market or sell a similar product or service.
A federal registration provides you with certain benefits. A U.S. trademark registration allows you to 1) deter or stop other junior filers from filing similar marks for similar goods or services at the USPTO; 2) obtain a presumption of ownership and validity in the trademark; 3) assert your trademark rights against other junior filers or users anywhere in the US; and 4) use the ® symbol in connection with your trademark once registered.
Before you file a trademark for your logo design, you may want to consider whether your logo will change over time. If you file for a design mark or logo, you are unable to make any material changes to it after it is filed with the USPTO. Therefore, if you are unsure if your logo design will be used on a long-term basis, it may be worthwhile to file for the standard word mark or brand name first.
You also need to make sure that you own the copyright to the logo design before you make a trademark filing. If an employee of the company creates the logo design in the course of employment, the company likely owns the copyright in the design. If you use a freelance designer or a branding agency, they will generally assign the rights in the design over to you as part of a “work for hire,” but you should confirm that during the design process.